You dance. Really? Latin dance? Salsa, Cha Cha, and what in the world is Bachata. The answer is yes, I dance. So does Inna. We are both in final preparation to compete in the Canadian championship in Toronto the second weekend in October.
We dance with passion. We dance to challenge ourselves. We dance to win.
There is only one way to dance – by dancing. Not by watching. Not by reading about it. Not by contemplating it. All of those things can be fun but there is only one way to actually dance – just do it!
Dance is an amazing metaphor for the practice of law. Sure we all start by learning. Train, and train some more. Compete and compete some more. Succeed or Not. Win and Lose.
Every step involves doing. At the beginning it is not pretty but if you do not give up – Magic. Magic that comes from taking the chance and doing.
When we dance, at first we think about every step.
But then something happens if dance is your passion – magic, again and again. You are deeply engaged in passion. When a performance ends you cannot even remember if you danced every step. You just danced.
It feels like the audience wasn’t even there. Only the dancers in the dance.
Your lawyer should approach the law just that way. By doing it passionately. Learning, training, competing, adapting – but always doing not talking. Doing, not studying. Doing, no hesitating.
My first trial wasn’t pretty. My first appellate argument was not pretty either. But now – those trials and appellate arguments are magic. Many times I’ve asked how I planned or reacted in a way that I did. Almost always, I cannot even remember the moment. Magic is instinct. Instincts cannot be taught. You either have them or not. You only know by just doing.
Good competitive dancers have medals and bruises. So do good trial lawyers. Ask to see their medals and bruises. If they do not have both, they are not the lawyer for you.
We dance. We engage in trials, appeals and mediation. The simple fact is that like the dance – the law is a passion. If your lawyer is not passionate about his or her work, you will know right away. If you sense a lack of passion, run away from that lawyer. Embrace lawyers with passion. Their passion for the work they do will be their passion for you and solving your problem. That’s what you want.
Dance!